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Zack Greinke was selected by the Kansas City Royals with the sixth overall pick in the 2002 amateur draft. He throws a mid-90's fastball, a slider, a curveball, and a change-up--all with excellent command. The right-hander struck out 118 batters while walking just 8 as high school senior in Apopka, Florida. Greinke won the 2002 "Gatorade High School Player of the Year Award", and his high school batting average was well above .400. He hit .495 with 10 home runs in 99 AB as a senior and was a first-team Baseball America All-American as a two-way player. He signed with Kansas City for $2,475,000.

The Royals' first round pick made six professional appearances in the summer of 2002. He made three starts for the GCL Royals, two with the Spokane Indians, and he made a relief outing for the Wilmington Blue Rocks. Greinke's total ERA for the three stops was 3.79, and he did not figure in any decisions. In the winter, Baseball America ranked Greinke as the third best prospect in the Puerto Rican League following a 0-1, 2.45 record for the Mayaguez Indians. The Florida native won 11 games with a 1.14 ERA for the Blue Rocks in 2003, prompting a promotion to Wichita. Greinke was a 4-3 with the Wranglers; his ERA was 3.23. In the 2003 Futures Game, he pitched a scoreless 4th inning for the USA, striking out two. Overall, he finished third in the affiliated minors in ERA behind Jon Connolly and Kameron Loe. For his performance in Wilmington, Greinke was named the Carolina League Pitcher of the Year and his overall efforts earned him a The Sporting NewsMinor League Player of the Year Award. Had he qualified, he would have led the Carolina League in ERA by 1.27. Baseball America rated him as the top prospect in the Carolina League and having the top breaking pitch in that league. They also placed him as the #2 prospect among all right-handed pitchers, trailing only Edwin Jackson. They said his "pitchability is unmatched by any minor leaguer."

Greinke spent the bulk of the 2004 campaign with the Royals. He allowed two runs over five innings in his debut on May 22nd. He finished the season with an 8-11 record, a 3.97 ERA, and a 1.17 WHIP. 2005 was not nearly as successful for the young pitcher. The Royals continued to flounder in the standings, and Greinke's confidence wavered. Despite a strong month of April, the 21 year old finished the first half with a 1-11 record and a 6.20 ERA. His record for the season was 5-17 and he led the 2005 AL in losses. One bright spot was Greinke hitting a home run in only his third major league at-bat.

2006 brought a strange twist to Greinke's career. His attitude changed in Spring Training, and he suffered a mental breakdown while throwing a bullpen session. Greinke announced he was leaving the team. He spent much of the season seeking help for depression and anxiety. He was able to return to baseball later in the season, and even made three relief appearances for the Royals.

In 2007, the embattled pitcher returned to spring training, this time hungry for a spot in the starting rotation. He won a spot, and pitched well in his first two regular season starts: giving up just two runs in 13 innings while fanning 12. The Royals moved Greinke back to the bullpen in May, and he stayed there until late September. On September 20, Greinke pitched eight strong inning against the Chicago White Sox. He yielded two hits, no runs, no walks, and struck out 10. In 52 games, the 23 year old's record was 7-7, and his ERA was 3.69. In 2008, he was back full time in the starting rotation and had a solid year, going 13-10, 3.47 in 32 starts for a team that finished tied for last in the AL Central.

Greinke was amazing to start 2009, going 8-1 with a 0.84 ERA. He became the first pitcher in 43 years, since Juan Marichal, to have an ERA under 1 after 10 starts, and while he slowed down after that, he continued to rank among the best pitchers in all of baseball for the remainder of the year. He made the All-Star team for the first time and led the American League in ERA and WHIP, finished second in strikeouts, and managed to post a 16-8 record with a dreadful Royals team that gave him very little run support. He was rewarded for his outstanding season by winning the 2009 American League Cy Young Award in a landslide over Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners.

In December 2010, Greinke was traded with Yuniesky Betancourt and cash to the Milwaukee Brewers for four prospects, Alcides Escobar, Lorenzo Cain, Jeremy Jeffress, and Jake Odorizzi. He had a very solid first year for Milwaukee in 2011, going 16-6 with a 3.83 ERA in 28 starts, striking out 201 batters in only 171 2/3 innings as the Brewers won their first division title since moving to the National League in 1998. He was particularly effective at Miller Park, going 11-0, 3.13 while pitching at home. He showed some signs of fatigue in the postseason, however. In Game 2 of the NLDS, he gave up 4 runs in 5 innings to the Arizona Diamondbacks but ended up with a no-decision as the Brewers won, 9-5. He was credited with a win in Game 1 of the 2011 NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals, but it was the epitomy of "winning ugly": he gave up 6 runs on 8 hits in 6 innings, but won, 9-6. Then in Game 5, he gave up 5 runs in 5 2/3 innings, and this time his teammates' bats failed to bail him out, sticking him with a 7-1 loss.

Greinke started three consecutive games for the Brewers around the 2012 All-Star Game. Making his regularly-scheduled start on July 7th, he was ejected after making only four pitches for spiking a ball into the ground; he started the next day's game, and lasted only three innings. After the break, he started the Brewers' first game of the second half on July 13th, becoming the first player since Red Faber in 1917 to be his team's starter for three consecutive games. The Brewers quickly regretted that stunt, however, as he was sat down and rested for an additional period before his next start, with manager Ron Roenicke admitting that he may have pushed his ace to do too much. That came at a time when the Brewers were in talks with Greinke about a contract extension, with rumors growing that he would be traded if one was not agreed on before the trading deadline at the end of July. His record was a very solid 9-3, 3.57 in a league-leading 20 starts at the time. On July 27th, Greinke was indeed traded to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for three prospects - Jean Segura, John Hellweg and Ariel Pena.

In his first start for the Angels on July 29, 2012, Zack threw seven innings against the Tampa Bay Rays, giving up 2 runs on 7 hits wihile striking out 8. Unfortunately for him, his opponent on the mound, Jeremy Hellickson, pitched even better and he was charged with the 2-0 loss. On September 25th, he tied a modern major league record by striking out 13 opponents in 5 innings in a start against the Seattle Mariners. During his stint on the mound, he struck out four batters in the 4th inning. Three relievers added seven more Ks to his total, to tie the record for most strikeouts by one team in a nine-inning game. He finished the season with a 6-2 record for the Angels, for a combined 15-5, 3.48 in 34 starts, having pitched 212 1/3 innings and struck out an even 200 batters.

On December 8, 2012, Greinke signed a six-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, worth $147 million. He had been one of the most sought-after free agents of the off-season. However, he soon gave the Dodgers a scare, experiencing inflammation in his right elbow in spring training in March 2013. He only pitched 13 innings during the spring, and was thus on a strict pitch count when he made his Dodgers debut on April 5th, starting at home against the Pittsburgh Pirates. However, he displayed his best form, allowing three hits and no walks while striking out 6 in 6 1/3 innings as the Dodgers won, 3-0. He was doing well again in his second start, facing the San Diego Padres on April 11th, having only given up a run in 5 innings, when he plunked Carlos Quentin on the left shoulder leading off the 6th. Quentin was enraged, charged the mound and tackled Greinke to the ground, after which the two ended up at the bottom of a huge pile of players from both dugouts. Greinke had turned his left shoulder towards Quentin to break the impact of his charge, but suffered a broken collarbone in the process. He had to leave the game and the following day, it was announced that he would require surgery and miss eight weeks of the season. However, he returned much more quickly than anyone anticipated, making his return on May 15th in a start against the Washington Nationals, only a month after his injury. He gave up only a run in 5 1/3 innings that day - the result of a solo homer by Adam LaRoche - and drove in a run himself to earn the 3-1 win. On June 6th, he pitched seven scoreless innings of four-hit ball against the Atlanta Braves for his third win, although rookie Yasiel Puig stole the headlines by hitting a grand slam in continuing his storybook first week in the Show. He was in the middle of things when Puig was hit in the head by a pitch on June 11th against the Arizona Diamondbacks; he threw at Miguel Montero who led off the next inning for Arizona, then was the target of a similar pitch from Ian Kennedy in the bottom of the inning. Benches emptied on both occasions, and punches were thrown on the second. He was not involved in the decision, however, in spite of giving up only 2 runs on 2 hits in 7 innings, as the Dodgers scored some late runs to win, 5-3. He did however soon begin to rack up the wins, and on August 10th registered win number 10 with a 5-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. In his next start on August 16th, he pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings against the Philadelphia Phillies to spoil Ryne Sandberg's managerial debut. He was named the National League'sPitcher of the Month for August, succeeding teammate Clayton Kershaw who had won the honor in July, after going 5-0, 1.23 during the month. He finished the season at 15-4, 2.63, his .789 winning percentage being the best in the NL. Because of the time missed, he pitched only 177 2/3 innings, but still collected 148 strikeouts. he was also fearsome with the bat, leading all major league pitchers with at least 10 at-bats with a .328 average and an OBP of .409; his .379 slugging percentage was second only to Travis Wood, who was at .381. He won the NL Silver Slugger Award as the circuit's best-hitting pitcher as a result. He lost his only start of the NLDS against the Atlanta Braves, even though he gave up only a pair of runs in 6 innings, but then went 1-0, 2.40 in two starts in the NLCS, where he was the Dodgers' most effective pitcher in their loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Greinke gave the Dodgers a scare just as Cactus League games began in 2014: he made only four pitches in his first start on February 27th before leaving the game with a right calf strain. In spite of health concerns that made Zack miss the team's season-opening series in Australia, he had a great month of April, going 5-0, 2.04. He concluded the month by recording the 10,000th win in Dodgers history in defeating the Minnesota Twins, 6-4, on April 30th. When he held the San Francisco Giants to 2 runs over 7 innings to improve to 6-1 in a 6-2 win on May 10th, it marked the 20th straight start in which he had allowed 2 runs or less. He eventually pushed the record to 22 straight starts before giving up 3 earned runs on May 27th. On July 25th, he became only the third pitcher in major league history to record a four-strikeout inning for the second time, when he did so in the 3rd inning of an 8-1 win over the San Francisco Giants. His victims were Hector Sanchez, Tim Lincecum, Hunter Pence, who reached first on a dropped third strike by A.J. Ellis, and Gregor Blanco. He had another great game against the Giants on September 13th, pitching 6 scoreless innings while hitting a double and a homer in a 17-0 win at AT&T Park to win his 15th of the year.